MSPs to quiz Uber, Amazon and Deliveroo on conditions for workers

Uber is one of the companies being questioned by MSPs on working conditions

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The gig economy and flexible employment will come under scrutiny as MSPs prepare to quiz representatives from firms rooted in new technologies and those in traditional hospitality on staff working conditions.

The Scottish Affairs Committee will first look at the employment models of Uber, Amazon and Deliveroo, which have used new technologies to quickly dominate the markets in which they operate.

In a second session later in the day, the committee will be speaking to the British Hospitality Association.

Companies such as Amazon remain reliant on having large numbers of couriers and drivers not employed by the owners of the apps through which their services are delivered.

Supporters of this model argue it allows workers to choose hours that suit them, but critics point out that it removes obligations for key worker rights.

Scottish Affairs Committee chair Pete Wishart said it is interested in talking to firms who had chosen to utilise a business model whereby a large part of their workers are not regarded as employees

The hospitality industry remains one of the lowest-paying sectors in the Scottish economy, with wide-spread use of zero hours contracts that provide no guaranteed minimum of working hours.

The committee will be asking why wages in the sector are so low, and what can be done to improve employment opportunities.

Committee chair Pete Wishart said MSPs are responding to “particular concerns” they have heard raised within the hospitality sector, while there are also questions about the sustainability of employment around firms such as Amazon.

“We are eager to speak to companies like Uber and Deliveroo, who less than a decade since being founded have become major enterprises with thousands of drivers using their apps to find jobs every day,” Wishart said.

“They have each chosen to utilise a business model whereby a large part of their workers are not regarded as employees.